The Game of Light and Shadow
by SpawnofAnarion
Summary: A storm is coming. Two of the greatest strategists in existence are taken from their home universes and spurred against each other with the Star Wars galaxy as the stage: Lelouch V Brittania and Ender Wiggin. Set a few years after Ender's game, post Code Geass R2, and just after Thrawn.
1. Champion of Shadow

There is an ancient riddle among the users of the force, largely forgotten. It has existed since before the republic, before the Jedi, before even the ancient Rakata. It has only one verse, and its answer has never been gleaned. It translates to this:

_One king in the shadows, one queen in the light, _

_Who is the one that will rule in the night?_

There are only two beings that have ever known the answer, and that answer could destroy everything.

* * *

_**The Shadow King**_

* * *

_His dark halls were quiet, the only sound being the slow tapping on his finger on the arm of his throne. The giant sphere that was the ceiling let in the distant starlight, showing a spectacular view of the galaxy hundreds of thousands of light years away that was entirely lost on him. He hated the light. The only reason that he kept it in sight at all was that he wanted to keep his enemies in sight._

_Fortunately, he was going to rectify that situation very soon._

_He'd sent the challenge, and this time she had to accept it. _

* * *

Lelouch first realized that his plan had failed when he felt the thrum of an engine reverberating through his body. Dead men weren't supposed to feel. He was supposed to be dead, no, he _remembered _being dead. He remembered the feeling of the blade piercing his chest and spine, of falling down the ramp, of Nanalee holding his hand as the lights went dark.

Yet here he was, and that meant that his plans had gone horribly wrong. There was no place for him in the new world, and unless there was some situation that required his assistance he would have to remedy that.

Sighing, Lalouch opened his eyes. The ceiling directly above him was a drab gray, lit only by long strips of blue luminescent material. The room around him was a drab grey as well, furnished with what appeared to be a metal desk attached to a wall, a small metal stool, the cot he lay on, and what he guessed was probably a toilet. A prison cell.

Which, unfortunately, meant that he was the captive of… Brittania? The UFN? The Black Knights? It had to be one of them. Had they somehow brought him back to life?

Lelouch was roused from his thoughts when he heard banging coming from down the hallway. He stood cautiously, his legs feeling strangely wobbly from nonuse. After walking to what appeared to be the doorway (a strange red forcefield) he looked for the source of the noise…

And looked straight into the eyes… of Kallen Kozuki.

Kallen froze for a moment… then began to yell and bash at the field even harder. She was imprisoned as well.

The situation was beginning to look worse and worse… and now he would have to explain everything to Kallen to regain her trust. Lelouch did not look forward to that conversation at all.

As he took a closer look at their surroundings, Lelouch began to realize that the situation was not as straightforward as it seemed. There was a long corridor outside the door, lined with identical red forcefield doors. If they were all full then this was a major prison complex, one that he had never known to exist, which should of course be impossible. The technology for a forcefield like this did not exist either. Then again, HE should not currently exist.

"Hey! Are you listening to me you damned bastard? ANSWER ME!" _Kallen certainly hadn't changed since they'd last met. _He smiled. _That would've been a shame._

Lelouch noticed footsteps coming down the hallway, and watched as three figures came to a stop in front of his cell. Two of them were tall, thick men in strange white armor. The eyes of their helmets were of some black substance, so that negated any chance of Geassing them. The third man, on the other hand, wore a strange grey uniform. When the field flashed away, the white figures raised he strange black guns that they held, pointing them directly at his face.

The man in the uniform nodded to him. "Come with us, calmly, if you will." He looked old and worn, his posture suggesting that of an experienced soldier.

Lelouch shrugged and walked out of the cell. The man in the uniform started down the hallway and Lelouch followed, the guards falling in behind. The sound of their armored boots clacking against the metal floor reminded him oddly of his days as emperor, the thundering of thousands of his geassed soldiers marching through Tokyo, parading his victory through the streets.

Kallen's shouts receded into the distance as they walked down the passageway. Lelouch looked into each cell that they passed, and his confusion and dread grew with every step. He'd expected that some of the black knights might have been captured, but it seemed like every last rank and file member of the knights was imprisoned here, and then some. Tohdoh, Ohgi, Tamaki, Xingke, Rakshata, and Villetta were all there(although they appeared to still be asleep). Other people were imprisoned as well, people that he recognized, including Lloyd Asplund, Cecile Croomy, Gino Weinberg and Anya Alstreim. He stumbled for a moment when he passed by the last cell and realized that Suzaku lay inside.

A door to a strange elevator whooshed open, and the gun barrels behind him prodded him inside it.

It took ten minutes for the elevator to reach the floor it was being sent to. In that ten minutes Lelouch came up with five different explanations for the situation and three different escape plans, all of which he discarded. In the end, he realized, he knew almost absolutely nothing about the situation. He and almost everyone he had ever worked with had been captured by some strange foreign power with weapons, ranking, armor, and technology unkown to him. The only thing he knew for certain was that _someone_ along the line had made some huge mistake and now he had to do something about it.

The doors opened on a short hallway that ended in a pair of double doors, guarded by two more white armored figures, which the walked through. They entered a room that resembled a office. It was fairly plain, its only furnishings being a desk and two chairs. The uniformed man sat in the far chair as the two armored figures took up guard positions next to the door. He motioned Lelouch to sit down. Mentally shrugging, Lelouch took a seat.

They stared at each other across the desk for a moment in silence. Then, the man started to speak.

"I suppose I will start by introducing myself. I am Gilad Pellaeon, captain of Imperial Star Destroyer _Chimaera_, Admiral of the Imperial navy." He held out his hand.

Lelouch eyed the hand for a moment. Then, sighing, he grasped the hand. "I suppose you already know my name. Now tell me, why am I alive?"

Pellaeon's brow furrowed. "I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no idea who you are."

Lelouch's brain practically exploded with this revelation. _He doesn't know who I am? The DEMON EMPEROR? The butcher of millions? The face of all that was terrible in Brittania? HOW!_

Lelouch slammed his palms down on the desk. "BRITTANIA! THE BLACK KNIGHTS! LELOUCH V BRITTANIA! ZERO! Do those words mean ANYTHING to you?"

He heard the guards behind him clatter for their weapons, but the Admiral motioned them down. "No, I've never heard any of those words before. All I know is that One day all of our cells were empty and the next they were full, as well as our cargo holds. The only explanation was a note I found in this office. It told of a boy with black hair and violet eyes who would be the answer to our problems, that all the equipment and personnel would be necessary to him. I can only assume that you are the boy to which the note referred."

Lelouch sat back in his chair. "Where… where are we?"

"On board the Chimera, my ship." Pellaeon scratched his mustache. "I suppose… do you know what a Star Destroyer is? The Galactic Empire? Emperor Palpatine? Coruscant?"

Lelouch shook his head, his mind blank. "Interesting…" Pellaeon continued. "It would appear my theory is correct. The technology in our cargo hold baffles our science officers. Nothing of its like has been created in our galaxy. It may seem far fetched, but I think it may be possible…" The admiral's eyes were piercing, "that you are a very long way from home."

Lelouch couldn't think anything for a moment. Then, suddenly, everything clicked. The strange force fields, guns, soldier, the admiral not knowing his name… it was possible that the admiral was lying, of course, but at the moment almost all of the evidence pointed towards the fact that they were now somewhere completely different. He would need time to verify this, but for now…

Suddenly, Lelouch realized that everything around him had stopped moving. The corners of his eyes were clouded with darkness, and he couldn't move.

_What-_

_**WELL DONE.**_ The force of the other voice in his head was horrible and huge, like the shadow of a giant battleship. _**You have passed my test.**_

_What? Who are you? What test?_

_**The test of intelligence. You have already determined that this world might be different than your own. I will now confirm that suspicion: this galaxy is not your own. I brought you here to participate in the greatest competition of all time, took your soul back from the unending darkness. Are you not grateful?**_

_I was supposed to die. I was at PEACE._

_**Heh. No matter. I have chosen you as my champion. Would you really pass up the chance to test your mettle against the one of the greatest strategists in existence?**_

_I-_

_**Your answer is irrelevant. All you must know is this: I have provided you with powerful forces from your own world and a possible ally that may grant you the army you will need. All you need to do is reach out and grasp the reigns. Your opponent will be joining up with the mortal enemy of your new allies, and you must rise to fight him.**_

_And why would I do that? Why should I fight for you, when you have ruined all of my plans?_

_**If you choose not to fight, then your friends and allies will die… slowly, painfully, one by one, and you will be left alone and powerless.**_

…_very well. You leave me no choice._

_**I'll be watching… so don't fail me.**_

The shadows receded, and everything returned to normal. Lelouch instantly regained his composure and immediately went to work.

"You mentioned technology in your cargo hold. What type of technology?" Lelouch asked.

The Admiral sat back for a moment. "There appear to be several dozen large combat droids and a huge container of some strange materials, as well as a large cache of replacement parts for the droids."

Lelouch was confused. "Droids?"

"You do not know- ah, droids are semi intelligent robots, but if the one in our hold belong to you, how do you not know-"

"Wait." Lelouch almost chuckled. "These… droids… wouldn't happen to be large, metal, somewhat people shaped machines, would they?"

"Well, yes." Pellaeon answered.

"Then those are not droids. They are from my world, and they are called nightmares. They are mechanized armored combat vehicles. Now, tell me more about this empire that you are from and the state of the galaxy."

Lelouch sat back as Pellaeon gave a short explanation of the galactic situation. His mind reeled with wonder when he learned that they not only had space travel, but they controlled the entire galaxy, and these Star destroyers were in fact several kilometer long space battleships. He was less enchanted by the reports of the faction he was joining with. They were a harsh and cruel empire, much like Britannia had been. Worse than Britannia, however, was that it had all been held together by one emperor, and when that man had been killed at the hands of rebels the entire empire had been shattered. It had almost been remade by a man named Thrawn, who Pellaeon had apparently worked with and spoke very reverently of. These rebels had apparently formed a new republic, which he supposed would probably be the enemy that the voice had spoken of. Still, Lelouch did not want to repair an empire that would bring more destruction, but he had no choice… for now.

"I would have liked to meet this Thrawn man." Lelouch told Pellaeon. "He sounds like a brilliant tactician. I would have liked to play a game of chess with him… but on to business."

Lelouch sat forward in his chair, his expression serious. "I have been sent here to aid your cause. Not to sound overly pompous, but I may be an excellent replacement for Thrawn."

Pellaeon looked skeptical. "I'm not sure who you think you are young man, but I doubt you have anywhere near the tactical prowess of Thrawn." The man held Lelouch's gaze for a tense moment, but then sighed. "However… that note did say that you would answer our problems, and somehow I feel that I should at least give you a chance. I will accept whatever help you can offer. "

Lelouch nodded. "Very well. I believe that our first order of business should be to unify these… Moffs, was it?"

Pellaeon raised his eyebrows. "That would be a major step, but that is not possible in this current situation. The different warlords hate each other."

Lelouch smiled. "Tell me, Pellaeon, who is the most important person in an empire?"

Pellaeon blinked. "An emperor, I suppose."

"Exactly. You are an empire without an emperor, therefore you cannot act cohesively. There is a simple solution to that, however."

Pellaeon raised an eyebrow. "And what is that?"

"I shall BECOME your emperor."

Pellaeon stood up, alarmed. "You can't be serious."

Lelouch grinned. "And why not? Did the emperor leave any heirs?"

Pellaeon frowned. "Not that I know of."

"Exactly." Lelouch spread his arms. "You look upon the one and only true son of emperor Palpetine, Lelouch V Palpetine."

Pellaeon's eyes widened. "You mean you would pretend to be the heir of the emperor? That might work on imperial loyalists, but there are many men who would see through the deception, and many more who simply wouldn't care."

"That was only one part of my plan. I have experience in taking control of empires, you know. The second part requires a crushing military victory over a dissident moff. How strong are your forces, Admiral Pellaeon, in comparison to the various moffs?"

Pellaeon scratched his head. "We could probably defeat most of them, but it would be costly."

Lelouch nodded. "Would they trust your word?"

"Probably."

Lelouch grinned. "Very well. Before we start this operation, I will need my people freed, as well as maps and information on military technology, strategic positioning of the enemy's forces, and profiles on the personalities of various moffs."

Lelouch stood and turned to leave. "Wait." Pellaeon said. "Your people will require rooms. I can grant you the former Grand Admiral's quarters. That aside, what makes you think you can do this?"

Lelouch turned back to the Admiral, a mad glint in his eye. "Why do I know I can do this? Because I'm Lelouch V Britannia."

As he left, an officer escorted him to the Grand admiral's quarters, which he found decorated with a huge collection of holographic art.

The officer handed him a strange device called a datapad that showed a map of the ship with a blinking red dot representing his location. He immediately set off to the holding cells. If he was going to do this, he needed the Black knights and the others, and that meant regaining their trust.

Which was probably going to take a while.


	2. Speaking the Truth

As the shock of awaking wore off, Lelouch felt the full impact of what was happening slam into him like a Knighmare's fist. He had acted confident towards Paellon, but at that point his mind had still been struggling with the situation, not fully believing it. He'd even played the arrogant genius, but he had now fully realized that this was not some strange nightmare, but terrifyingly real. He was trapped, being controlled by some mysterious being. His friends had been pulled into the situation as well, and now the world that had been perfect without him would be shattered, all for some sort of game. _This thing has ruined everything… can I really do nothing about it? _

He had run the situation through his head dozens of times as he walked towards the meeting hall, and every time he grew more frustrated and worried. He had thoroughly analyzed every scenario, but continuously hit a wall. There were three major problems with any plan he could make to thwart the mysterious entity that had imprisoned him in this universe.

He had no idea how he had arrived here, or even how he'd been brought back to life.

He had no idea where his enemy was located, or what it even was.

Any action he could take against the entity would result in the death of his friends.

Then there where the minor problems, such as the fact that he had to regain the trust of the black knights, learn more of this new galaxy, gain new allies, build an army, make a plan, educate himself on the entirely new tactics of space warfare, avoid upsetting the mysterious entity, and assuming they got that far, defeat his rival.

Lelouch stopped in the hallway and put his hands to his head, a violent migrane piercing his mind. _I was better off dead… I should be dead! Maybe if I were to die again, this situation would… no. Whatever that thing is that's controlling me would probably just bring me back, and kill some of my people for the trouble. I need to remain calm and focused for the people trapped here. I must fight for their safety, so that they may return to their world of happiness._

Lelouch began walking again. Eventually he arrived at the holding cells, only to be informed that the Black Knights had, thankfully, been moved to a meeting hall already. _This Paellon is definitely efficient. _Lelouch continued walking through the halls, and began to get an idea for how truly vast the ship was. Eventually he reached the door to the meeting room, and after taking a moment to prepare himself, entered, noticing that the door opened upwards like doors stereotypically did in science fiction.

The area that he had just entered was officially referred to as the 'tactical operations briefing room', and was apparently used by the personnel of these 'Star Destroyers' to plan out missions and give the soldiers involved their directions and objectives. It was laid out with several long grey tables (ten to be exact) stretching from one end of the room to another, with enough chairs to accommodate over a thousand people. Lelouch marveled at the sheer size of the vessel he was on, as the number of chairs here was only enough for the ranking officers and personnel. From what he had read about the subject, one 'Imperial II class' Star Destroyer held over forty thousand crew members and soldiers. In front of the room there was a slightly raised platform, on top of which was set a grey, sharp edged podium. To its left and right there where large screens that Lelouch supposed where used to show simulations and tactical plans.

Filling the front few rows of the room where the assembled members of the Black Knights. It was everyone who had survived, and then some. Kallen, Tohdoh, Ohgi, Tamaki, Xingke, Gino, Anya, Rakshata, Lloyd, Cecile, Cornelia, Guilford, Villetta, Jeremiah, and even the four holy swords, three of which where supposed to be dead, which spoke more to the power of the thing, which Lelouch had decided to refer to as Shadow. All living and once dead Black Knights, with the notable absence of Dietard, where now available for his use… assuming he could get them to follow him.

They where currently under guard by more of the armored soldiers, or 'Storm Troopers', but the Knights where all embroiled in numerous conversations:

"Asahina, I still can't believe that you're back! So much has-"

"What? Some guy took over the world, and Zero killed him? Man I wish I-"

"I'm telling you, I saw him! Lelouch is in this place with-" The last one was Kallen, who noticed Lelouch as he discreetly walked to stand at the podium. "HE'S RIGHT OVER THERE!" She shouted. The noise lessened as people turned to look where Kallen was pointing.

Lelouch did not really know what to do in this situation. "Erm… greetings." He said calmly.

A moment later he was glad that there where guards preventing them from leaving their seats, because he would probably have been attacked by the majority of the people present.

"It's the Demon Emperor!

"KILL HIM!"

"But that bastard's supposed to be dead!"

"Suzaku was brought back to life too, and besides, he's a demon!"

"DIE, TRAITOR!"

Lelouch felt beads of sweat gathering on the back of his neck. _This is not going well._ "Attention, Black Knights!" Proclaimed confidently. "This is an emergency situation, and I believe you should all know what is going on before you decide to kill me."

"Shut up, monster!"

"We don't need to hear ANYTHING from you!"

"Yeah, let us go!"

Lelouch gazed out at the assembled crowd, their faces full of loathing, and almost despaired.

"_**Oh, must I do everything for you?"**_ A familiar voice echoed through the room, its power silencing the crowd.

To either side of Lelouch, the screens came to life, showing an image of a man drenched in shadow. He sat imperiously on a dark throne, his only visible feature being his reflective black eyes.

"_**Attention, foolish peasents." **_The voice seeped through their minds with a coldness like the heart of a black hole. _**"Welcome to the Celestial Galaxy. I am the one who rules in the dark, the lord of all that is cold, the King of Shadow. You have the honor of being chosen to take part in the greatest strategic battle of all time, serving under your champion, Lelouch VI Brittania. You must fight and defeat the rival champion if you wish to return to your world. If your champion loses, IF YOU FAIL ME, you will all die. Direct all further questions to your champion."**_

Then it was gone, as suddenly as it had arrived, and the room was silent.

Lelouch took this opportunity to begin his speech. "As you can tell, everyone, we are in a bad situation. Black Knights and Brittanians, I ask only that you hear me out."

"W-we won't listen to you." Tamaki said shakily.

"No." Suzaku said. "Let him speak."

There was some grumbling among the assembly, but most people where still to shocked to respond. The power of the King of Shadow was undeniable.

"Thank you." Lelouch said. He paused for a moment to consider his strategy, and decided that the best way to regain their trust was to tell them the truth. "As this King of Shadows has said, we are indeed in another galaxy. In fact, we are currently in a spacecraft. I have begun relations with the owners of this craft, and have created a possible venue for creating the army we will most probably need for the times ahead of us. If anyone has any questions, I will take them now, and I promise to answer truthfully." _This is going to be difficult._

"Lelouch…" Kallen began. "How are you still alive? We saw you die!"

Lelouch felt his face twist, matching the fury he felt. "That… thing… brought me back. I wanted no part in this."

"Yeah right!" Tamaki shouted. "The demon king didn't want to be brought back to life? Like anyone will believe that!"

Lelouch sighed, his body sagging against the podium. His headache was only getting worse. "That was not the plan."

"What are you talking about?" Xingke asked. "What plan."

Lelouch looked out across the assembled crowd, and inwardly groaned. _I guess there's nothing for it. The plan was pretty much ruined anyway._ "The plan for my death."

The crowd reacted with confusion and disbelief. Tamaki in particular was indignant. "What do you mean, the plan for you death?"

"I named it Zero Requiem. After Schneizel was defeated, I had no more objectives to accomplish but to destroy myself and free the world from tyranny."

Cornelia looked dumbfounded. "Y-you had yourself killed… to free the world from tyranny? But why not just rule benignly?"

Lelouch met their gaze with a determined stare. "The world needs someone to blame for their problems, a villain that could unite all peoples against him. Without that person, the world is a place of confusion and destruction, with no place to focus the fury of the human race. I chose to become that person, so that when I was killed, the world would become a kind and gentle one."

Every person in that room that had survived the ordeals of the reign of the Demon King thought of the good times that had come after his death, how the world had seemed and become a much more hopeful place.

"But why?" Kallen asked quietly. "Why did you do all of this?"

"For the people of the world, for my friends… but most of all so that…" Lelouch's voice faltered. _I'd resigned myself to the truth, but should I really…_"S-so that my sister could live in peace and happiness."

"What proof do we have that any of this is true?" Xingke asked.

"Everything he has said is true." Suzaku said. "I helped him with his plan. I was the one who killed him."

The heads of everyone in the room turned to stare at him. "You're Zero? But…"

"He is my succesor." Lelouch said dismally. "I was the original Zero. Kallen, Villetta, and Suzaku can confirm that."

The room descended into turmoil for a moment, allowing Lelouch to regain his composure. "Everyone, may I have your attention."

"Now that I have told you everything, I have one question for you: will you help me win, so that you can return to our world?"

Tohdoh, Suzaku, Ohgi, and Cornelia exchanged glances. "We must discuss this among ourselves." Cornelia proclaimed. "Please leave the room."

Lelouch walked awkwardly to the door, aware of every person's gaze as he left. He felt as if he had just fought a fierce battle. After so much time spent lying, it was difficult, even painful, to tell the whole truth. There was a part of him, though, that was glad to get it all off his chest, and wanted to be able to trust someone. Now all he could do was hope and wait.

Suddenly, the door opened, and two people came through.

"Oh! Lelouch, we have an urgent question for you." Lloyd said.

"Yes, as the duke of pudding says, we were wondering about that thing you had mentioned, about this being a spacecraft. You are sure?" Rakshata asked urgently.

Lelouch mentally smacked himself for not addressing that issue in the main room. "Yes, we are in a spacecraft, one that is roughly a kilometer long."

Lelouch stared, nonplussed, as the scientists froze. Their heads turned slowly to look at each other.

"Spacecraft…"

"Kilometer long…"

"Prison shields…"

"Galaxy…"

The hallway erupted with noise as the two hugged each other and practically squealed with glee.

Lelouch raised an eyebrow, but supposed it was only natural, them being some of the foremost scientists in the world. _On our world, that is._

The door slid open again, this time emitting Suzaku and Cornelia. "Lelouch…" Suzaku trailed off, distracted by the two scientists. "What are they-"

"They're scientists and this is a spaceship." Lelouch explained. "Have you decided?"

"We have decided to give you a chance, as we have no other choice." Cornelia said, warily.

Lelouch felt a rush of relief, but did not let it show. "Very well. Everyone can head off to explore the ship, but I would like to confer with both of you, Tohdoh, Kallen, Villetta, Jeremiah, Guilford, Xingke, Ohgi, Lloyd and Rakshata after you settle in in order to reassure you all, establish a chain of command, and discuss our plan."

_And so it begins._


End file.
